UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 5-2009 "Divine William" and the master: The influence of Shakespeare on the novels of Henry James Amy M. Green University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the American Literature Commons, Comparative Literature Commons, Literature in English, British Isles Commons, and the Literature in English, North America Commons Repository Citation Green, Amy M., ""Divine William" and the master: The influence of Shakespeare on the novels of Henry James" (2009). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones.34917/2307697 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s).
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NOTE TO USERS This reproduction is the best copy available. UMI Dissertation Publishing "DIVINE WILLIAM" AND THE MASTER: THE INFLUENCE OF SHAKESPEARE ON THE NOVELS OF HENRY JAMES By Amy M. Green Master of Arts in English University of Nevada, Las Vegas 2006 Bachelor of Arts University of Nevada, Las Vegas 2004 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in English Department of English College of Liberal Arts Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2009 UMI Number: 3383977 Copyright 2009 by Green, Amy M. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted.
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This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Copyright by Amy M. Green 2009 All Rights Reserved Dissertation Approval The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas April 14 _,20 09 The Dissertation prepared by Amy M.
Green Entitled "Divine William" and The Master: The Influence of Shakespeare on the Novels of Henry James is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Examination Committee Chair Dean of the Graduate College nination Committee Member minatian/Zommittee Member e College Faculty Representative 1017-52 ii ABSTRACT "Divine William" and The Master: The Influence of Shakespeare on the Novels of Henry James By Amy M. Richard Harp, Examination Committee Chair Professor of English University of Nevada, Las Vegas Henry James's most sustained commentary on Shakespeare comes in the form of an introduction to an edition of The Tempest that was published in 1907. In it, he remarks that the play is a reflection of Shakespeare "consciously tasting of the first and rarest of his gifts, that of imaged creative Expression.to show him as unresistingly aware" (1207). This praise ties unerringly back to James's praise of the artist as one who views the world through open eyes and can capture the nuance of experience.
James himself worked at the craft of fiction, and writes extensively in his notebooks and the New York Edition Prefaces of the origins of many of his stories and novels. That James admired Shakespeare is undeniable. James knew Shakespeare's plays intimately, as a reader of the plays, a playgoer, and a reviewer. A close study of "The Aspern Papers," "The Birthplace," The Portrait of a Lady, The Wings of the Dove, The Golden Bowl, and The American reveals the influence of Shakespeare's plays on the shaping of characters and thematic elements of plot found in James's works.
iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Professors Unrue, McCullough, and Urioste for their willingness to serve on my committee, in spite of otherwise busy schedules. Additionally, I must extend special thanks to Professor Richard Harp, both for serving as chair of my committee, and for being an invaluable resource as I wrote my dissertation. To my friends, family and colleagues, I appreciate the support you have given me as I have worked to reach this final milestone of my education. Finally, I thank my husband Benjamin, my companion for so many wonderful years, and the other half of my heart.
Without him, none of my achievements would have been possible, as he has always given me the support needed to find my strength, and pursue my dreams. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv CHAPTER 1 "DIVINE WILLIAM" AND THE MASTER: THE INFLUENCE OF SHAKESPEARE ON THE NOVELS OF HENRY JAMES 1 CHAPTER 2 BUILDING MONUMENTS TO THE DEAD: "THE ASPERN PAPERS" REIMAGINES ROMEO AND JULIET, "THE BIRTHPLACE" SPEAKS NOT OF THE DEAD 20 CHAPTER 3 "MISERY ACQUAINTS A MAN WITH STRANGE BEDFELLOWS": CALIBAN AND ARIEL IN THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY. 55 CHAPTER 4 GENDER TRANSGRESSION AND UNBRIDLED AMBITION: MERTON DENSHER AND KATE CROY AS THE MACBETHS 76 CHAPTER 5 A BOND TOO TIGHTLY WOVEN: ADAM VERVER AND KING LEAR 108 CHAPTER 6 OF VENGEANCE AND NUNNERIES: HAMLET AND THE AMERICAN 142 CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION 175 WORKS CITED 180 VITA 191 v CHAPTER 1 "DIVINE WILLIAM" AND THE MASTER: THE INFLUENCE OF SHAKESPEARE ON THE NOVELS OF HENRY JAMES In a letter Henry James wrote to Manton Marble in 1902, he eloquently discounts Marble's support of the Francis Bacon-as-Shakespeare-theory. James spoke of Shakespeare simply as "divine William," a man who was "a Poet and Nothing Else" {Life in Letters 343).
He refutes the Bacon theory in part by asserting that Francis Bacon was too much else, that all of those traits which Bacon's supporters recommended - an upper- crust pedigree, prestigious education, and career in politics - rendered him incapable of also being an Artist. Finally, James expresses offense at the attack on Shakespeare's authorship finding its source in the logic that a man as relatively uneducated as Shakespeare could not have possessed the gift of creative talent. For James, to be an Artist or a Poet, for James categorized creative endeavors of the writer, painter, photographer and the like under the umbrella of Artist, stemmed from more than education or wealth. James describes the "house of fiction" as containing "a number of possible windows not to be reckoned" {Art of the Novel 46) and thus the role of the writer lies in looking in to one possible window and successfully conveying the scene he or she sees to a reading audience.
A critical component of this process emerges as the "enveloping air of the artist's humanity" (Ibid 45). As James saw it, possessing academic 1 skills, intellect, or even great ideas does not render one a success as an artist. Rather, the inherent humanity of the writer plays an integral role in the success of the finished work. Shakespeare, for James, possessed this powerful sense of humanity in abundance, an ability to see into the depths of human experience and convey it back it myriad powerful ways.
James's most sustained commentary on Shakespeare comes in the form of an introduction to an edition of The Tempest that was published in 1907. In it, he remarks that the play is a reflection of Shakespeare "consciously tasting of the first and rarest of his gifts, that of imaged creative Expression.to show him as unresistingly aware" (1207). This praise ties unerringly back to James's praise of the artist as one who views the world through open eyes and can capture the nuance of experience. James himself worked at the craft of fiction, and writes extensively in his notebooks and the New York Edition Prefaces of the origins of many of his stories and novels.
Time and again, James's hearing of a story, or overhearing a snippet of conversation, or observing London life closely lead to the germination of works like The Golden Bowl and The Princess Casamassima. That James admired Shakespeare is undeniable. As the evidence in the following chapters demonstrates, James knew Shakespeare's plays intimately, as a reader of the plays, a playgoer, and a reviewer. A close study of "The Aspern Papers," "The Birthplace," The Portrait of a Lady, The Wings of the Dove, The Golden Bowl, and The American reveals the influence of Shakespeare's plays on the shaping of characters and thematic elements of plot found in James's works.
Before exploring the relationship between James and Shakespeare in greater detail I will examine how Shakespeare became a prominent figure of early American literary and playgoing life. He proves capable of transcending boundaries in place for other 2 authors and playwrights, limits which kept these other authors from finding in favor in Puritan households. He also broke down boundaries between higher and lower social circles. His plays found popularity within those Puritan communities which otherwise banned the theatre, and yet they also found places within the libraries of statesmen like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
Other American Founding Fathers such as John Adams and Thomas Jefferson viewed Shakespeare as "a moralist and a philosopher; nothing so trivial as a journeyman of theatrical entertainments" (Webb 13, 62). Citizens of the newly forming and evolving America came to view Shakespeare as "a fellow traveler in the American fight against tyranny" (Cliff 120). The fact that he was technically English did not diminish American enthusiasm for his plays, both in published and staged forms. Indeed, as the chapter concerning "The Aspern Papers" and "The Birthplace" demonstrates, Americans thought of Shakespeare as fundamentally American and a brilliant mind whose works and life went vastly underappreciated by his home country.
Early in the American experience of community and nation-building, Shakespeare became enfolded as a brilliant playwright whose works stood for more than mere entertainment and his popularity spread from the Puritan colonies, to the libraries of statesmen, to the frontier as the movement west began. American presses began reprinting English editions of Shakespeare's plays in 1794 (McManaway 514) and 1795 saw the publishing of the first complete Shakespeare edition published in America (Vaughan 27). Shakespeare collections gained strong popularity even amongst fur trappers. Mary Ellen Jones recounts the story of one such trapper, Jim Bridger, who purchased a copy of Shakespeare's plays but was himself illiterate.
He paid a German 3 boy forty dollars to read it to him. Bridger found out about Shakespeare by asking an officer at Fort Laramie to provide a reading recommendation (30). Nigel Cliff notes, "Shakespeare accounted for nearly a quarter of the plays performed during the nineteenth-century, and he was by far the most popular playwright on the frontier" (13), which emphasizes that productions of the plays ranged from the amateurish and often raucous productions of the frontier, to the serious productions of the American theatre houses. Shakespeare found favor with both the upper and lower classes in nineteenth- century America and "he became the focus of the tensions between them, from the deference of the Anglophiles to the counter claims of the nationalists" (Foulkes 20).
Shakespeare's writings could be both dignified and bloody, not unlike the early history of America. His characters also were unique, reflecting the American drive to build an identity unique and separate from England. Parallel but opposite to Shakespeare's rise to prominence in early American culture, James found affinity with England. James travelled throughout Europe with his family while he was growing up and James ultimately opted to make England his home.